On my past trips I have always spent the last night of the charter back at the home marina to cut down on the stress of getting the boat checked out and making our way back to St Thomas for an afternoon flight. This year we will be sailing out of Hodge's Creek and the charter ends at 10am on Saturday. Since we will be doing a sleep aboard on the first night of the charter I want to try and avoid spending 2 nights of the trip in the marina. Thinking Marina Cay or Scrub Island but wanted to get my fellow sailors input...... Thanks for your help in my past post.. this is a great site for information. cheers

We've chartered out of Hodge's Creek for several years. We stay the last night at Cooper. It's a straight shot across to Hodge's Creek in the morning...

You can spend the last night at either of those places or anywhere on Norman, Peter or Cooper. Much better then being on the dock!
G

I would pick marina cay or cooper or peter over scrub. Simply because I don't see the point of being on a dock in a marina to avoid being on a dock in a marina. All are easy access to hodges.

plenty of places to anchor on Peter. we would never even think of staying in Sprat

Sprat is expensive and has no ventilation. It's a hot and stuffy place.

So say you stay at Cooper how much time would you allow to sail back and get checked off the boat...while trying to make a 10am ferry ???

Assuming you motor across less than an hour. Check out time is a wildcard. Personally I wouldn't attempt the 10 am ferry. Too many things could go wrong. You will need to be off the boat by 9am.

It depends on the charter company. If you are not required to fuel the boat I want to be on the dock at 8am. If the company requires the boat be fueled a 10 am ferry can be iffy. Most fuel docks don't open until after 8am. It takes 30 minutes to motor from Cooper.
G

The fuel dock at Hodges Creek can be a bottle neck on weekends, in season. You will want to arrive at the fuel dock very early in the morning to avoid a waiting line. The charter companie's staff in Hodges Creek will assist with fueling and docking which helps.

I always try to moor out the last night, it is much more pleasant. If you have an early ferry or flight, that may be a different story........

Cooper for sure....get there early so you can spend the day and enjoy some snorkeling at Cistern.

We stay at Cooper all the time for our last night. We start a bit early and just set the jib for the easy reach across the sound. It's a good time for a Bloody Mary. Your 10AM ferry is a deal-breaker for any place other than the dock. Can you change flight schedules, or whatever, to allow for a more relax return? If not, I think you are going to be dock-bound on the last night. Build in more time next time! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" />

With TMM last spring, we had to spend the last night at the dock in order to catch the 10 am ferry.
Next month, our crew needs to catch the 10 am ferry, but we're staying on Tortola for a few more days so we'll end our trip with our last night at either Cooper or Norman. Get back to the dock in the morning and let the crew go and we'll stay back and do the boat check out, etc.

With a 3:30 flight from St. Thomas what ferry would you get on out of Road Town..... would the 11:30am give us enough time ?

11:30 could be tight. It could leave an hour late,be cancelled, have delays at customs in stt.

We made the 10 AM ferry after staying on a mooring at Peter this past February. Sunrise dip, then pushed off at 7AM and pulled into slip at 8AM. Scrambled between 8-9 then hopped cab to ferry. Key is prep night before or on sail over. We were a party of 10 (6 kids). Nice broad reach back to port.

I assume you mean Smith's 11:30 on Sunay. Theoretically that would work but of the 3 companies Smith's is currently the least reliable. Fallback would be RTFF at noon but if you are flying AA that would be cutting very close.

Be aware that STT on Sunday during the season can be a madhouse!

Last May we did our last night at Cooper and it was about an hour from releasing the mooring until reaching Hodges Creek.
We arrived about 8:30 on a Saturday and there were 2 boats at the fuel dock and 2 others trying to maneuver around the docks waiting. We stayed outside the entrance and a few other boats backed up behind us. Took about 1 1/2 hours to get to the dock, refuel and get checked out by DYC get on our way.